The Northeastern region, having a share of 3.80 per cent of the total Indian population, is home to nearly 6.60 per cent of the illiterate population of the country, despite the fact that Mizoram – a State with one of the highest literacy rate – belongs to the same region. Though being a prominent State of the region, literacy rate in Assam is below the national average along with other two of the Northeastern States, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Out of the total 700,00,000 illiterate people of the country above the age group of 15 years, 46,25,715 people are in the North East, according to the National Literacy Mission data. On a visit to the State for launching the female literacy sensitization programme, the Director General of the National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) Jagmohan Singh Raju said that the mission ‘Saakshar Bharat 2012’, a scheme announced by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh aims at mitigating the large disparities not only between the male and female literacy rates, but also those of SC, ST and the minority population. Addressing the media here today, he said that the scheme has the provision of skill development or the employment oriented training of the neo-literates. Commissioner Secretary Education, Government of Assam Md AB Eunus, while speaking on the occasion said that the infrastructure has been put into place to conduct a survey for identification of beneficiaries of first phase of the programme that would cover the five districts, out of the total 12 identified districts in the State. In the North East, 35 districts out of the total 86 districts are being targeted under the scheme on the basis of a female literacy rate of 50 per cent or below. The total literacy rate of Assam is around 64 per cent against a national average of 65 per cent. The gender gap between the male and female literacy rates in the State is nearly 15 per cent.